Inside the Phillies with MLB.com beat writer Todd Zolecki

It's Deadline Day

The Phillies have until 11:59 p.m. tonight to decide whether or not to offer salary arbitration to their free agents.

The suspense is killing you, isn’t it?

The Phillies basically have two players worth watching: Chan Ho Park and Scott Eyre. They’re both Type B free agents. The Phillies would receive a sandwich pick between the first and second rounds of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft as compensation, if they offer them salary arbitration and they sign elsewhere.

Park’s agent said recently that Park has drawn interest from several teams, and the Phillies have said recently they want Park back. If Park accepts arbitration from the Phillies, he is signed for 2010 and will get a raise from the $2.5 million he made last season. If he signs elsewhere, the Phillies get a draft pick. Seems like the Phillies can’t lose there.

Eyre seems less likely to be offered arbitration because he is coming off surgery on his left elbow, and because the Phillies seem to want to bring him back at their price. If the Phillies offered him arbitration, he would seem more likely to accept because it would mean a certain raise from the $2 million he received last season. Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr.‘s comments that the Phillies will not engage in a bidding war for Eyre’s services indicates they don’t want to go much higher – if at all – than the $2 million he made in 2009.

It also will be interesting to see which free agents on other teams are offered arbitration. I’m curious to see what the Tigers do with Placido Polanco. He’s a Type A free agent. If the Tigers offer and the Phillies sign him, the Phillies would forfeit their first-round pick to get him. If the Tigers don’t offer, I would think the Phillies really go after him, if they haven’t already. The other Type A free agent worth watching for the Phillies is Miguel Tejada, who they could have some interest in — although Polanco, Mark DeRosa and Adrian Beltre are their top targets at third base.

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6 Comments

Arbitration offers can change the marketplace pretty significantly, especially with relief pitchers. And it could put Tejada in the mix at 3B if Houston doesn’t offer.
Players have till December 7 to decline. If they accept they are off the market.

It will be interesting to see where Feliz, Martinez, and Myers all land.

Sometimes I’m still not sure why they’re letting Feliz go because he’s one of the better prospects out there defensively. It will be interesting to see who the Phils sign for the pen. Also wonder if they’ll try and have a 5th starter in the wings what with Moyer coming back from surgery and only Kendrick the other real possible 5th starter at the beginning of the season.

I agree with Karen. I don’t know what more Feliz could have done to get a contract extention. He is a gold-glove-caliber thirdbaseman. He was a clutch hitter at the bottom of the lineup. He was a great clubhouse guy. Ruben should’ve offered him a deal. Now he has to sign a top free agent at third to save face. I hope it’s Beltre, too. He could bat 6th or 7th in the line-up and still produce some RBIs PLUS he’s even better defensively than Feliz. Only the price can keep this deal from falling through.

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